Chapter 78

"Everyone, I'm very grateful for your presence!"

Levi was just an ordinary audience member, and no one would care about what he was thinking. While he was lost in thought, the opening performance had already ended.

All the lights focused on the young girl at the center of the stage. Her outstanding appearance was beyond words, and the two contrasting qualities of serenity and liveliness coexisted in her without any sense of contradiction.

"What do you think?"

Finally, Fuguri Kaede, who was standing next to Okazaki, recovered and leaned over to ask the two dazed men, as if showing off her toy to a child.

"It's great."

Okazaki Tomoya was unusually honest this time, apparently also captivated by the idol's charm.

"Not bad."

Indeed, regardless of the earlier speculations, the performance itself was flawless. It wasn't just the beauty of her voice; the genuine emotion from her heart was the most captivating part. Sadness, persistence—these feelings could only come from someone who had experienced something profound. Behind the girl's radiant smile, there seemed to be a deep well of sorrow. Levi believed it was real emotion; no matter how magical the spell, it couldn't touch someone's heart so deeply.

"Right? You'll definitely fall in love with her."

The female student, delighted by the idol's recognition, probably didn't notice anything unusual.

"The next song is 'Real Emotion!'"

As the colorful lights swept upwards, the girl's outfit gradually disintegrated and transformed into a traditional stage costume of a black dress and blue top. The real-time costume change technology, which allowed the performer to change clothes without leaving the stage, had been successfully developed and put into use just two years ago. This technology, which could change the singer's attire through 3D imaging, was highly sought after. However, it had a fatal flaw: the stability of the projection during rapid movements was insufficient, making it impossible to maintain the perfect shape of the clothes during fast-paced dances. Therefore, it was generally only used for slow-paced songs.

But the girl on stage, who moved freely, showed no signs of adapting to the projection. The magic Levi felt during the costume change was definitely not the result of the latest technology. However, the magic only lasted during the change and then disappeared. This meant that the possibility of a sustained illusion was also ruled out.

The subsequent performance did not use that strange magic. The girl continued to sing the remaining songs in her dance outfit. Unfortunately, this left Levi without the opportunity to study the unknown ability in detail.

"I wonder if everyone is satisfied with my performance..."

Besides Levi and Okazaki, the audience was mostly loyal fans, and even Yuki, who was usually distracted, seemed more focused. Of course, no one would have any objections to a performance that was already nearly perfect. A huge cheer immediately erupted, interrupting the girl's words.

"Thank you everyone! Even though you might already know, I still hope you can help me."

The cheers quickly subsided, and the audience listened quietly to the girl's words.

"If anyone has seen the man in this photo, please let me know."

A photo was projected onto the screen behind the stage. A blonde boy with healthy tan skin, dressed in sporty attire, stood on a white sandy beach, holding a light blue sword and smiling brightly.

"The last song, I hope you can listen. This is my message to him first."

Raising her hands to the microphone in front of her chest, she began to speak softly.

"Caressing your face, like a dream in the morning..."

The audience's hearts were carried away by her sorrow, following the gentle melody. Fuzzy scenes flashed and disappeared, and the long journey finally came to an end as the music gradually faded. The stage returned to calm, the lights came on, and the delicate yet strong figure had vanished, but the fans were slow to return to reality.

"Get up!"

"Ah!"

"Wow!"

"Hey!"

The boy and the twin sisters, who were lost in the emotional moment, were rudely awakened. When they came to, they saw the mischievous man grinning triumphantly.

"Ugh! You ruined such a good atmosphere!"

"I think you're really asking for it."

"Mr. Levi, you, you, that's not right."

Kaede's reaction was quite normal, and Okazaki, who rarely agreed with her, surprisingly joined in. What surprised Levi even more was that even Fuguri Ryou, who was shy and had barely spoken to him since they met, condemned his prank in her own way.

What a charm, more magical than magic itself. He couldn't help but remember that someone had once compared music to magic, and it seemed he had been ignorant. Seeing Okazaki Tomoya, the delinquent student, sharing the concert experience with the two girls, Levi quietly left with Yuki, who was also unaffected.

"Are you happy?"

Levi, who had left before the audience could fully recover, easily avoided the crowd and walked out with Yuki. Standing where they had first met, he looked back at the dome-shaped venue nearby.

"Happy? If you mean the electrical circuit formed by the flow of charges in the opposite direction to the current inside the membrane due to the potential difference between different parts of the cell, this artificial body does not have that function."

Yuki's eyes, though focused on Levi, showed no emotion, like a camera lens pointed at a human body.

"Can't the Information Integration Thought Entity do that?"

"There's no need."

"No need?"

Repeating the girl's answer softly, Levi suddenly felt a wave of sadness. Was it a delayed reaction to the song? Maybe.

"Do you know the way home?"

The girl nodded, as expected. After all, she was a sophisticated device like Chacha, with no reason to get lost like a normal person. The crowd at the venue's entrance gradually dispersed, and the noise hadn't reached them yet, but Levi already felt inexplicably irritable.

"Go home first, I have something to do."

Feeling uncomfortable, Levi, without any gentlemanly manners, let the small girl go home alone at night.

"Wait."

He was about to find a quiet place to avoid the dispersing fans when Yuki gently tugged at his sleeve.

"There are three special reactions different from the general population."

Levi was taken aback for a moment before understanding her meaning—there were three special ability users.

"One of them is walking in the opposite direction at the average human walking speed and is expected to continue until they are out of the sensing range."

Yuki seemed to understand that he needed time to process the information and paused before finishing her sentence.

"You mean one person is leaving and won't come back?"

"Your guess is not necessarily correct, but if it happens, there will be enough time to respond."

After saying that, the girl took two steps back without moving her upper body, as if preparing to leave. She hesitated for a moment, like a normal person.

"Please be careful."

Levi smiled, the irritation from earlier fading from his face. So, she's like Chacha too. He didn't say it out loud; even if he did, Yuki wouldn't understand. But this was enough.

"You be careful too, go home quickly, thank you."

He had been helped by her again. After the Holy Grail War, he would have to cooperate with her mission properly. Levi thought it would be very interesting.

Watching the short-haired girl's back gradually disappear from his sight, the work of a Holy Grail War participant began under the bright moonlight.